Barry Taaffe, 31, was blasted with shrapnel and feared he had suffered the wound every man dreads.

His arms and legs were badly injured but his most important parts escaped serious harm – by a matter of millimetres.

Despite being hit by 16 shrapnel fragments, the Light Dragoons sergeant’s first reaction was to try to catch the insurgent who threw the bomb.

The incident happened in September during a foot patrol to the village of Kadar Kolay in northern Helmand province.

Barry, who is married with one child and another on the way, said: “I came up against a compound wall and a grenade got chucked over it.

“It landed between my legs and exploded straight away. I did not have time to move, to warn the other lads or even to think ‘Oh shit’.

“There was a massive bang and a lot of dust. As it cleared I was still on my feet and I did not feel any pain. I knew where the grenade had come from and the most important thing to me was to catch that individual, so I charged the position.

“I came round a corner and there was the insurgent right in front of me. It was only when I went to raise my rifle I realised it had been blown out of my hands in the explosion.

“Luckily, he was more scared than me. He ran away.”

He added: “At that point things started to hurt. The medic got to me very quickly and the first thing I asked him was to check out my nether regions.

“He told me there was absolutely nothing to worry about. It was the best news I’d had all day.”

Barry phoned his wife Hannah, 24, to tell her of his injuries. She said: “He was on morphine and his exact words were ‘Hello, don’t worry but I’ve been blown up’.”